2018

Papa’s House News and Updates

November 2018

It is time for me to begin the “Update.” This happens when the inspiration appears, or deadline looms large. In the former case, I am sometimes delightfully pulled along in a subconscious flow, tapping away, and trying not to disturb the fragile relationship between the current, and my own thoughts, I try to be still and simply write. When this works, the ambient sounds of my neighborhood, kids playing in the streets, half-deflated soccer balls being kicked across the gravel road, vendors on bicycles with booming baritones shouting out their wares to people inside their homes, the shrieking whistle of trash collectors, will all fade away. In the latter case, feeling the pressure of a deadline to write, I am assaulted by it all.

There is a lot to share in this update. I am touched by the evolution of our children and organization and will be writing about that and more. But first I am writing this under the eclipse of Hope’s surgery which will take place in Greensville, SC, the other side of the planet from me, at 6:45 pm my time, just 4 hours and thirty minutes hence.

Her operation was postponed from September, when I was present for her, due to Hurricane Florence that swept in that week. It is hard not to be with her now, but she is with her mom Anita, who has raised the bar on good mothering to a lofty extent, and her loving step-father Sam. Hope will be fine.

Hope is one of the most impressive children, scratch that, humans I know. She has never questioned her missing feet, nor has she ever complained. When she falls, she quickly offers “I’m okay” for my sake, I believe, and carries on with a smile. Though unspoken by Hope, nor showing in her face, I believe that usually present in her thoughts is her desire to walk, run, and stay in pace with the others. Anita sent me a video shortly after they moved to North Carolina. Hope had received a push scooter a week earlier and spent hours each day getting the hang of it while going up and down the wide sidewalks of their community with her mom, or grandmother at her side. Meanwhile Hope met some of the kids in the neighborhood who all had scooters as well and would ride them in small packs. The video Anita sent showed this pack coming down the sidewalk, literally downhill, a gentle but steady decline. All the kids with their colorful helmets were gliding along without a care, and then I spotted Hope in the middle, the most demanding of positions in a pack, and there she was with equal grace and calm.  As they passed where Anita was filming, Hope looked up and smiled and in that smile I saw her quiet victory. It was her moment, undiscerned by all others, but I could see and feel in her smile her pulsing with joy at a threshold crossed, and as the camera swung to catch the retreating pack I cheered from my desk 8000 miles away and felt flush with the grateful exultation one can only feel as a parent’s witness to their child’s moment of inner bliss, their triumph of accomplishment. The potency of such moments leaves one spent, mortality over-ridden by the spirit alone. These are the sweet flashes in time that remind one of how utterly great life can be.

Hope has adapted well to her new environment, a culture with its own rules that she eagerly accepts. She made neighborhood friends that go to her school, some in her class. To the bus stop each morning go the mothers, chatting while their sons and daughters walk side by side, backpacks in place, busy with conversation likely around “What’s in your lunch box today?” When the bus comes, Hope makes the first step up with her compensating arm muscles in a swift move that belies the quick calculations she performs necessary to rise in step with the others. She waves out the window and is gone into her own separate world until 3:30 brings her round again. The walk home, as in the walk to school, brings her to independence, this brings her back to family — the two worlds that children navigate as they begin to explore their way in the world.

Anita overheard Hope’s new friend one day, in the innocent inquisitiveness of small children, ask Hope what happened to her feet. This is a question Hope has never asked us, though we were prepared for it, and as thus we have never provided an answer to. “I had an accident,” Anita heard her reply, simply stated as one might say, “We had pizza last night.” Her friend said “Oh,” and they resumed their banter. A stated fact given, curiosity filled, and life goes on.

Most likely when you are reading this, Hope will be back in school. Sam and Anita have purchased a wheelchair for Hope and made arrangements for the handicapped bus to come and pick her up. Hope has allowed herself one week only to be absent from school, this she reassured her friends when they hugged her goodbye on Friday.


*****

Later this same day, Hope came through the operation in good form.


Hope before walking into the OR

Hope in the recovery room

At this Shriners Hospital the child must say goodbye to the parents outside the operating rooms. Hope took it all in stride according to Anita, and followed the process without complaint. The medical staff had high praise for Hope when they came to inform Anita and Sam that the operation was over. Back in her room Hope gives one thumbs up — she scores most everything that is going on in her day by the number of thumbs up or down.

Anita did not take time to remove her jacket in her excitement to see Hope when she came back to her room. And, still waiting for Hope was a Halloween party. Shriners Hospitals are amazing places, very worthy of support.

And last, after Hope and I shared a video call, she slept, the long anticipated (by her parents) day was done, and all was well.

*****

Ishwor and his classmates have just completed their two years of “college.” Now they will begin University. Ishwor had taken the challenging science stream for the past two years, sacrificing free time to achieve entrance to a medical science path in the university system. He sat for the exam, along with over a thousand other students and achieved the rank of 24th overall. He will soon enter Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences to earn his four-year bachelor’s degree in Medical Laboratory Technology. The competition for entrance to the limited seats available is great obviously, and thus scholarships are only for the first 16 places. The top eleven win coveted seats at the Government University, the next five are granted some scholarship money from the better private schools, and the others unceremoniously vie for the best they can find.


Ishwor, a fine athlete, scholar, and gentleman

*****

Also in this same class Sabina, another science student, decided to complement her studies by learning German at the Embassy here. She wishes to study nursing and wisely feels her best career move at this stage would be to do so in Germany. Sabina began her language studies a few months ago in addition to the mind-numbing coursework she had. She will qualify to sit for the visa exam in another three months, and upon passing it will be eligible for work in Germany, and then after one year’s residency she would be allowed to attend nursing school there.


Sabina in black jacket at last February’s Valentine’s Day celebration

*****

Dhiraj is settling in nicely in Australia. He wrote the following letter last week:

Dear Papa

How are you? I want you to know that I miss you guys so much and there is not even a single day I don't miss u guys and of course you papa.

Life is moving on with a lot of interesting and new things every day.  I feel really blessed to have Laurie and Stan in my life and they have hearts of gold.

I work 10 hours a day and 5-6 days a week. I have made around AUD$2500 till today in a month. I work for a Chicken shop where we sell a lot of chicken and salads. It is owned by one of Stan’s friends who is a South African. There are 4 Nepali boys working there with me. They are paid $14 an hour and he used to pay me around $13 per hour when he was training me. Now I am trained and work hard and he pays me $16 an hour. I have created a small family for myself with Laurie and Stan and all their family members and friends. Lots of their Family invite me for dinner and breakfast, everyone wants to see me and talk to me about my life in Nepal and changes, so it feels like home Papa. I am loving it here and excited about my university soon starting on 12th of November. I feel I am so blessed Papa. First to get you in my life. I would not have able to do this in my life and secondly all the people I have known because of you Papa. Thanks, Papa for all those strict rules in the hostel with Sam and all the house managers. Whatever I am doing is your achievement Papa.

Thanks for life Papa.

Thank you for everything Papa

Please bless me, Papa,

I Love you

I miss you

A big hug and with tears on my eyes

Love you Always

Dhiraj

Dee(That's what everyone calls me at work)

And a small bit of my reply:

Dear Dhiraj

I am very proud of you, but Australia is not the proving ground for it, I have been proud of you from long ago. Australia simply provides further evidence of why.

This Dashain you were here in spirit, remembered well, and you will never be forgotten. But you were 1 among many children not in attendance when everyone younger than me (I could have simply said everyone) sat cross legged on the mats and prepared to receive my blessing. What an absolute honor that act is in my eyes. One more of the many benefits of age, and my life among you all.


Dhiraj taking a Sydney arrival selfie

With Papa in 2009

*****

Nama is an athlete with natural talent, but he has become superb due to his commitment to the sport of basketball. At Skylark he commanded the courts and gained the awareness of college programs. He received a full scholarship at Morgan College, noted more for its basketball program then its academics, which are still better than the average.

Nama has also just completed his college classes and is looking at University. This past year he did pretty well academically while playing for Morgan, as well as on the National level on the Nepal Army team. The National level of play is most impressive, and they compete throughout the year both in-country and internationally.

In addition to his on-court prowess is his off-court kindness and eagerness to help anyone in need. If ever he sees me toiling outside he will come and try to relieve me of the tools and take over. He is a quiet leader, by example, in all that he does.

*****

This is a recent painting by Bimal. I admired it profusely, so he gave it to me. I instead had it framed and it hangs in the Chelsea Center where many eyes get the pleasure. We have as a Saturday art teacher a man with flawless technical abilities; he teaches at the Art College and paints when he has time, often commissioned. He has been teaching Bimal and others for over a year now and Bimal, a very gifted young man who loves to paint, has had his own technical level increased remarkably. What I love about his new style is how he imbues his paintings with the emotions of the people inhabiting the canvas. Bimal has a sensitive artist soul with the deft touch of a great craftsman.

*****

Anisha had been working as a waitress for several months in the late afternoons and early evenings while attending college. She works and studies hard. NOH has been supporting the babies at the quasi-government orphanage for quite some time. We thought the time had come for us to have one of our own there each day to make sure the babies received individual attention and our thoughts turned to Anisha, and when asked if she would like to do it she jumped at the opportunity. She has been there for several months now and a world of difference has resulted by it in the energy level and number of smiles the babies share. And we are feeling a lot more serene in our involvement in trying to make the best of the situation for them.


The bottom two photos show Anisha with Sarika, the little one that I wrote about in an earlier update. She is now getting the attention and touch all babies deserve…but which before Anisha were not coming her way…and now she is blossoming because of it.

*****

Our daughter Mary came to us from as far west in Nepal as the country goes. A mountain village without electricity, nor the sound even of petrol-powered mechanics. A peaceful place, but one that demands an abiding relationship with nature to survive in. I wrote a story about Mary and how she happened to come to us almost 9 years ago, leaving behind her father and little sister who was only 3 at the time. Mary often thought about her sister and over the past few months her thoughts were shared with us and we decided to try and find her. Clues were few, but tangible. The family had lost direct contact with her sister 6 years ago when a family friend said he could get her into a school in Kathmandu. They allowed him to bring her and then lost touch with their friend, and as the seasons came and went, time soon covered her tracks, and memory. But with a little effort we found that her sister was in an orphanage on the other side of Kathmandu. We called them and found the man whose family started the orphanage 35 years ago rather surprised when I let him know about Laxmi, Mary’s sister. I took Mary to meet her little sister the next day, and then a couple of weeks later we picked up Laxmi and brought her to stay with Mary for part of our Dashain. Coincidentally, this search provided collateral information that Mary’s father is a kidney patient here at the government hospital; he has severe renal failure in both kidneys and is on dialysis. His situation is unfortunate as he hasn’t any money for ongoing treatment. But now Mary and Laxmi have had the opportunity to meet with him and their aunt, after so many years. The universe presents opportunity, but not always solution.


Mary and Laxmi reunited. Sisters, but in Laxmi’s mind she never knew

*****

Late in the summer we turned our attention to tightening the bonds between the 250 women who attend free classes each day at our Chelsea Center and the children of NOH. Ted Seymour, a member of the NOH Board, spent a month here observing all of our programs and this idea was part of his suggestions. So, to this end we began the “Auntie Program.”

One of the quaint practices in Nepal has all children calling older women “Auntie” and older men “Uncle.” All adults refer to older males as “Dhaai” and older woman as “Didi”, brother and sister, and “Bhaai” for a younger male and “Bahini” for a younger female. Thus everyone is your brother or your sister. It is quaint, but it serves a greater purpose to strengthen the bonds of respect and behavior among all people, and it helps to keep insensitivities at bay.

We decided to ask the Aunties if they would host a child for a normal family dinner. The response was excellent initially, but as we added some rules such as picking up the child and bringing them home again, and being absolutely on time both ways, the numbers thinned. The final count was 38 Aunties were excited to do this with the rules in place. The Aunties were advised to allow the child to participate in the dinner preparations and to strive to make them feel like family as opposed to a guest. The two rules need to leap huge cultural impediments. Time is a loose concept among the Nepalis, and “Guest is God” is a notion applied to anyone entering your house, thus serving the guest with the utmost of care and respect is a cultural imperative. But they did well on both counts and the kids and aunties had fun, which was the largest end-point. All things take time to make perfect, but we are optimistic that this is a program with great possibilities. The debriefing after was full of positive responses and setting a date for the next dinner received an enthusiastic affirmation.

Another aspect of the culture is to not demonstrably show affection, hugging is rare, and yet, to my delighted eyes, when we called out the names of the “couples” many Aunties gave their child a welcome hug. Just amazing, and I was moved to see this, as hugging is something that I know our children enjoy.



The Aunties and their daughters and sons for the evening

*****

As most of you know, October is the time when Dashain and Tihar are experienced in Nepal and India. These are 30-plus day festivals in honor of gods, families, and a small sampling of animals, the cow taking the seat of highest honor. There are two days of particular reverence and tradition, one in Dashain and the other in Tihar.

On “Dashain” families gather and after bathing but before eating, a Puja is given. The elder of the family will lead off applying “tika” to the foreheads of the assembled family who kneel or sit cross-legged in wait. While applying the tika, made from color and rice, it is incumbent to offer a blessing, then place a specially grown straw called “Jamula” behind the ear or tucked into the hair, and finally you place some small bills and coins into the recipient’s hands. It is a tradition easy for me to like. It takes the Western world’s seasonally spoken “Peace be with you” up a few notches.

After the patriarch completes all, then the matriarch and others who wish to do so, such as uncles and elder brothers or sisters are free to follow suit.

If tikas took the shape of countries, Rajan had the U.S. Mary, good natured as Sarita mocked a selfie.

Aakriti’s World, gentle, intriguing

Mina developing into her new name “Naina”

Urmila, brilliant, kind, yearning

Kailashi, Sumitra, Sarita, alive and energized

Ashok, garland by Prashanna

Sapana, Gita, and Sarita, three special, real sisters

*****

“PAPA’S HOUSE PIES”

A love of pie baking and sharing spawned the idea that we should sell them. Pie is a new taste in Nepal; I am not aware of anything closely resembling traditional pies here, though bakeries are in a renaissance period in Kathmandu.

So, we shaped this to be a business that will grow and as it does, employ more of our science stream college and university students to give a few hours a week each, as they can afford. Their time in the bakery we feel will be a necessary mental release from study, clearing their thoughts and allow them to return fresh and sharp to the books.

We will put all the profit from this business into a special fund to provide support (rent and food) for the university level kids to be able to focus on their demanding studies. Science students attend school from 10 a.m. until 5-6 p.m. six days a week, leaving no time for earning. By participating in the pie business, they are “earning” their support with just a few hours a week according to their own schedule.

Marketing has occupied a lot of time this past month, as well as preparing the bakery, and developing new pies according to seasonally available produce. We hope to open after Tihar. Our first target will be the US Embassy where they have already posted our advertisement on their bulletin board, a local restaurant where embassy staff take their lunch, local coffee shops, and we hope a local grocer where the embassy staff shops. Closer to home we will have Pie Fridays at the Chelsea Center and encourage the “Aunties” to buy our pies, tarts, muffins, and cookies to take home to family.

As through our years of the Chelsea Center changing the educational landscape of our adult community, we hope to change the dietary taste, and bring some occasional treats into the homes of Dhapasi. Beta testing has shown this will happen; it is a great cause and a wonderful taste.


Former cow shed that we remodeled after purchasing the property and before building the Chelsea Center. It went from cow shed to college boys home one year, to office space, and now the “first” home of “Papa’s House Bakery.”

Asha has a career interest in baking. We sent her to a six-month course at a fine resort to open the pathway for her. They did not do pies, but her familiarity in the kitchen, her availability during the day, her having cooked with me for years at our Friday night dinners, and her excitement have made starting this business easy. She will eventually manage what will one day be another of our children’s enterprises.

*****

Thanksgiving of 2013 was one that will never be forgotten. We had Hope with us, and NOH seemed to find its center around her. A time of deeply felt family unity from which all individuals prospered. Present that year was Kathy Procanik, one of Hope’s godmothers. Before leaving her hotel to come to Thanksgiving dinner she invited a young man she had met, and a few others who had no plans for the day, to come with her. The young man is Jonathan Paluga. I wrote about him last year, and he deserves to be written about every year.

Moved by the way we celebrated Thanksgiving, by the children and their love for one another, their caring, and their spirit, he sent a donation and a beautiful letter describing what the day had meant to him soon after he returned home.

The next year he returned with his partner Kym. A month before coming he sent another donation which he hoped would pay for the Thanksgiving dinner, which made it a Thanksgiving Feast!

Each year since, Jonathan has increased his commitment to our children’s Thanksgiving in an amount that broadly exceeds the cost of a Feast and is then applied to the educational enhancement opportunities we encourage among our children.

To me, Jonathan exemplifies the spirit of Thanksgiving whose meaning I yearly impress upon our children in a sermon they politely endure before they eat.

What Jonathan does makes possible a day that is eagerly looked forward to, as deeply to the children as Christmas, and Dashain. It is my favorite family event, as closely resembling an American Thanksgiving family dinner as we can muster with the challenges of Nepal always lurking. The gift is for us, but I have to imagine that when Jonathan and Kym sit down with their own family for Thanksgiving, that they are holding hands under the table and smiling as the blessing is given, knowing what a blessing they have bestowed upon us across the planet.

Kym with Hope and me in 2014 Jonathan and Kym at Bouda

*****

SANCTUARY FOR KIDS

Mother, actress, director, and philanthropist, Amanda Tapping lives to give hope and opportunity to all people. Amanda has united legions of fans to have the courage to listen to their hearts and act accordingly, to find their voice, to learn they are not alone, that they can change the world and themselves through reaching out their hands to others.

How is it that a highly successful celebrity can be so honest, down to earth, available, and use her position to motivate others to find their spirit and make it come alive, with as much attention as she gives to her craft? Both are full time occupations sometimes done well by two different individuals, never both done by one.

One of my favorite photos. This is Jill Bodie who along with Amanda and Jill’s husband, Damian Kindler, founded Sanctuary for Kids in 2008. Jill is a mother, a wife, a teacher and life coach with extraordinary passion for making a difference for children left behind by societies too busy to care.

This is Sylvia Patterson, the Director of (S4K). I have not met Sylvia but through e-mails. She is the orchestra leader whose consummate skill in business guides the foundation and weaves it into the lives of far-flung organizations such as ours, while handling the myriad logistics that have enabled S4K to unite Amanda’s fan base and turn it into highly successful yearly conventions that benefit attendees and beneficiaries alike.

I had an introductory e-mail to Amanda in early 2009. One of our volunteers, a gifted young Irishman, was building the S4K website at the time. He was moved by NOH and quietly lobbied Amanda, Jill, and Damian to consider making us one of their first grant recipients.

Through this, Amanda, Jill, and I exchanged several e-mails and soon thereafter plans were made for them to come to Nepal along with one of Jill’s daughters, Hannah. I was at that time unaware of Amanda’s fame as I had been off the grid for quite a few years here, and even previously in America I did not watch television or read about entertainment. Then one day I mentioned to another volunteer that Amanda Tapping was coming for a visit and this volunteer was incredulous, remarking, “How in the world do YOU know Amanda Tapping?!” This mid-thirty aged man pursuing his PhD in Education proclaimed gushingly, “I am so in love with her,” and proceeded to fill me with nervousness over meeting Amanda.

When Amanda, Jill, and Hannah arrived I found in Amanda a beautiful and radiant woman as kind and easy as a girl next door that one had grown up with and who made you feel that nothing was special about them but their enduring friendship to you for life. As Amanda and Jill would sit in late afternoon conversations with me, their fame disappeared, I felt more in the company of two people who were special because they had chosen to live their lives in service to others, both highly intelligent and motivated, and with a great sense of humor. They asked insightful questions and would be moved to silence and tears to hear about the lives of our children before coming to us.

Once, four years ago I had an e-mail from a friend who was also a big fan of Amanda’s. She said to go to You Tube and watch an interview Amanda had done in London before a large audience.

Midway in the interview Amanda was open to questions from the audience. One question was along the lines of “What was the last thing that inspired you?” a rather generic question. Amanda sat quiet for a moment, then said “Hope.” She then proceeded to tell the story of our daughter and she did so through tears. This broadened into a response that included factually accurate stories of not just Hope but many of our children. The audience was breathless, the on-stage interviewer speechless. This is Amanda Tapping, an amazing human being who clearly listens and takes it all to heart.

Two years ago, Anita and I were in Boston where Hope was getting surgery at Shriners. Jill wrote to me and said she was in Massachusetts getting her daughter settled in college. She wrote that she would love to come and help us out with babysitting, errand running, or in any way we might need help during this time. Again, as illustration of kindness to all, Jill, very successful, known to many celebrities, very busy, was willing to drop what she was doing and lend a hand to simple people she knew mostly by our shared values and the long-time support of S4K for our work.

The day came for goodbye, Saraswati’s face said it all. Amanda and Jill had reached the heart of all our children, every one of them, by their motherhood, comfort, listening, and embracing.

Amanda leaving each child aware that if they believe in themselves and work hard they will be everything they wish to become.

Jill letting the kids know what a mother feels like. And Hannah mesmerizing the children by her beauty, calm, and intelligence.

I write about S4K now as earlier this year Amanda, Jill, and Sylvia let us know that S4K will cease to exist after December of this year. They have served so many over the last ten years. From S4K we have received countless number of volunteers, individuals who have been devoted fans and participants in S4K from its inception, fine people who have remained friends and supporters. Through S4K came a wonderful Director of Volunteer Nepal, another who has for 7 years been coming and in one long stretch served as a house manager and helped manage our Chelsea Education Center; they remain close friends to us today.

The financial support of S4K has been incredible. Year after year, it has enabled education, housing costs, medical interventions--all to make the children’s lives more individual and less part of a large group, special moments, security, happiness, comfort, and a validation for our work and future proposals.

To me, what this relationship has meant is all the above and more. Through these three successful women I have been made to feel deeply appreciated, to feel special, that my quiet life is more important than I see for myself. They have been friends to me, cheering me on, and letting me know they not only have my back, but my heart as well.

Thank you, Sanctuary for Kids, for your many splendid gifts.

Love,

Michael

*****

From 2010

Our children do not talk so much about life, they just live it; they do not talk about giving a gift to a friend, they just do it; they don’t think about carrying the school bag of another who isn’t feeling well, they simply take it; there is no pretense, no calculations they simply choose to engage everything straight from the heart.

We have choices in life and each and every one of us has so much power. If you choose to live a positive optimistic life, to help others, to love your family and friends, to think “how can I make a difference in someone’s life everyday” then you will make that difference; not only in their lives but in the quality of your own. It does not take a special person or a rich person; it just takes a caring person.

Those of you who have been in Nepal with us know how precious and unnaturally kind and compassionate our children are. I have learned so much about the meaning of life and how to better live it from our children. I have learned about being patient and appreciating the moment. I have learned not to hold anger at those who have brought harm to us, learned in fact to try and understand, to empathize in an effort to discover the motive of these lonely people. I have learned how to laugh at myself, how to love and feel loved. These children are little prophets one and all who make it easy to believe that one’s own life can bring remarkable change in a world that is abundantly lopsided in its equality.

 

August 2018

Volunteer Nepal was fortunate to host a group of student volunteers and their chaperones from NYC at the beginning of July. Adam Aronovitz and Alissa Bilfield were volunteers with us many years ago and have returned a few times since in different capacities. This time it was with Adam’s NGO Global Routes Org. This group was under Alissa’s leadership in conjunction with Ruth Rabiott and her NGO HEAF. Taking a break from volunteering, they planned a great July 4th afternoon celebration for all our children, our Chelsea teachers and Volunteer staff.



Bottom left: Ruth Rabiott and one of her chaperones, a recent Davidson College grad, who is entering Columbia University this fall. Middle right photo: Chanda, a PhD holder and fellow chaperone with her new friend Chiya. These two hit it off and have become pen pals.

*****

On the educational front we had a first for NOH. Khusbu was ranked number one at Skylark for the “Boost-up” exam given to the children in preparation for their school leaving exam which will take place in March. This is a huge achievement. Other children performed very well in their regular first term exam as seen below.

Mrs. Pandey, our Director of NOH, Manisha ranked 3rd, Samita ranked 1st Mankumari ranked 3rd, Pushpa ranked 1st, Khusbu in rear, Sarita ranked 2nd, (missing is Kajul who ranked 3rd), all in their separate classes for their first term exam and flanked by Prashanna, whose incredible effort as the Director of the Chelsea Center deserves much of the credit.

*****

The first week of July was spectacular, a very busy and poignant one culminating in the ceremony in which we honored the union of Sam, Anita, and Hope. Family and old friends came from four countries to honor them.

From the left: Vinod (Anita’s brother), Sam, Alecia (Vinod’s wife), Anita and Hope, Ted, Papa, Parks (Justin and Laura’s son), Jake, Laura, Justin (Laura’s husband), Blanca and her partner Victor. Missing from the photo is Sunita, Anita’s twin who flew in from her job in Kuwait. All of these folks began volunteering with us 10 years or more ago and have remained good friends ever since.

*****

The Ceremony: July 7th

Our daughter Asha doing the make-up, hair was done by our daughter Naumaya, and garland by our daughter Sarita. In the photo on the right, Anita, Sam and Hope meeting all our children and staff who had come to walk them to the Skylark School where the ceremony was held.

Anu, class 10 Bimala holding the daughter of our daughter Srijhana, and Samjhana
Alicia, Sushmita, and Kailashi Our daughter Sangita and her daughter Sankriti
The exchanging of rings Ranjana
Purnima, Srijhana, Chiya, and Saraswati Santoshi, Akkriti, and Ranjana
Kanchi and Hope walking to the ceremony Entering the tent to a standing ovation scared Hope
Ram singing Paul Stookey’s “Wedding Song” Anita surrounded by her family
Laura and Justin Selina and friends dancing
Bhumika as Sam in a beautifully performed play about how Sam and Anita fell in love (with a little help from the children) Alicia, as Anita, in a scene that brought tears to everyone

Sangita, Pramila, and Lalita, I brought them from our home in the western region when they were 10, they remained roommates and best friends until Sangita’s marriage three years ago, this was only our second time together since. And on right, the actors along with Sam and Anita.

Gita Our good friend Lou and Sumitra
Our daughter Meena looking radiant

Victor and Spanish film star Blanca, who spent a week working with the children on their play. She has been a constant friend for ten years now.

Cutting of the cake Sushma

It is quite hard to summarize the day’s gathering and the strongly felt emotions exhibited by all those who came in honor of Anita and Sam, over three hundred strong. Tears of happiness and those of a separation nearing, deep laughter slipping into wet-eyed quietness, a day bringing us all to ponder our own lives, our own milestones, and our preparedness for tomorrow. Godspeed Anita, Hope, and Sam.

*****

As I write this update I am pleased to report that Anita, Hope, and Sam have settled into their new lives. They are living presently with Vinod and Alecia, and Anita’s parents in a beautiful Hindi community where all the residents are young brilliant people brought there by the many firms in the Research Triangle of North Carolina. A lot of the residents have brought their aging parents and they carry on the wonderful traditions of Hindi family life, and community. Hope quickly made friends with three neighbor girls her age and they spend evenings riding their push scooters on the safe sidewalks while parents meet and chat, celebrating the good things of life, like friendship and family, every day.

*****

On July 25th we did our annual “Puja” for the new college students at 5:30am on their first day of school. This is year eight and unique in that it did not rain as it has in all seven previous years. An auspicious sign for these seven.


Hari, Sumitra, Ramita, Aliza, Anisha, Bimala, and Rupa. (college uniforms yet to arrive, but college t-shirts provided, Sumitra feared getting hers stained so did not wear it.


Hari and Sumitra, rescued from the same orphanage in 2007


Aliza and Anisha both rescued in 2007 from having been sold into indentured servitude


Bimala and Ramita, also both rescued in 2007


Rupa, as well rescued in 2007

All these children have worked very hard to achieve what they have earned. Each of them have part or full time jobs which they attend to six days a week, as well as college six days. They are responsible, loving, and sincere young adults, in possession of what it takes to lead a happy, purposeful, and productive life.

*****

On Saturday August 11th we will say goodbye to Dhiraj. With commendable fortitude he has taken on the challenge of attending school in Australia. Dhiraj took extra classes to round out his already impressive resume, talked daily about going, imagining himself there, filed paperwork accurately and timely, took on applying for loans, seeking acceptance at a well-reputed small college in Sydney with a good IT program, sought and received recommendation letters directed to the college, laid out his plan for the next few years to us in how he would manage this, and sought the guidance of a consultant for college admissions, finding a very good one who was as impressed with Dhiraj as we have always been and went to bat for him. Piece by piece over the last year things fell into place, he received loans, was accepted at the college of his choice, and had only to receive his visa as the last hurdle, and on Tuesday of this week, while on a borrowed scooter he received a call from his consultant who advised him to pull the scooter over and turn it off for a moment, and when he did the consultant gave him the good news. A year’s worth of devotion to a dream was rewarded.

Rescued from the same orphanage with Hari Charming Anita at seven at Papa’s House
Early days at Skylark Dhiraj has always believed in himself
Dhiraj at his farewell Puja Our Director Sunita Pandey giving Dhiraj a Tika

*****

NOH has 54 children currently in college (grades 11-12 or plus 2) or university. In April of 2019 fourteen more will join them. As mentioned earlier this is our eighth year of sending children to college and thus many of the original group are now in their careers. Looking back over time at these young men and women who came to us while very young is incredibly touching. Many individuals who had first hand experience with the NOH family became such kind supporters, offering what they could and when they could. And then there is Toni Thomson, the extraordinary film maker who made the documentary on NOH, What It Takes to Be Extraordinary, which continues to generate new supporters, and through her “Possible Worlds Foundation,” provides yearly support. Amanda Tapping and Jill Bodie who started “Sanctuary for Kids” in Vancouver and made us one of their first beneficiary’s 11 years ago, have been an extraordinary support over the years allowing us to bring more children in desperate need, into the family. Laura and Justin Nimick, (shown above in a couple of wedding photos) who began “Life’s Handy Work” to help support our educational program, after Laura volunteered with us ten years ago. There has been a handful of unsung heroes, incredibly kind donors who have always sought anonymity, but have year after year given with such warmth and grace to help our children succeed, to all of you the NOH family salutes and carries your kindness and care in our hearts.

NOH started Volunteer Nepal in 2005. The program connects volunteers with talent and passion to poor villages across Nepal in great need. It has been a very robust program that consistently makes big differences in the lives of individuals, families, and communities that in many cases had not experienced westerners before. Through Volunteer Nepal’s volunteers we have been able to financially support education programs in many areas, as well as bringing qualified teachers to them. We have been able to run medical camps for remote areas, and after the earthquake of 2015 Volunteer Nepal staff was at some of our placements devastated by the quake within 2-3 days bringing blankets, food, tents, cash, to the people there. Long before others arrived Volunteer Nepal brought a lifeline. Some of these places were very difficult to reach, but we did, and we returned many times to restock what was needed.

Volunteer Nepal fees make all that possible, and also goes a long way towards the operational cost of NOH and its many outreach programs that are designed to provide meaningful assistance for children in need in Nepal.

From the beginning it was our goal to one day be able to do all we do in a self-dependent way, and Volunteer Nepal was part of that concept. We are still years away from reaching that goal, and with the number of children we have in college and more than that still behind them we will continue to need the support of the broadening family of NOH. Our children are the living embodiment of the mythological Phoenix, rising from the ashes of their early childhood traumas to become the exceptional young men and women, generous in spirit, they have become.

And below, some photos of the future great men and women of NOH.


Enduring Brother’s Day in 2017, I laugh so much with this photo





Thank you, all my best,
​Papa

May 2018

Congratulations, Hillary!

On May 8, Hillary Bernhardt left us to return to school for her master’s degree at Yale School of Management. Hillary served magnificently for close to 18 months as the Director of our Chelsea Education and Community Center.

A goodbye ceremony was attended at noon by well over 200 of the woman students of the CECC, which included speeches in her honor and dance performances. For the celebration after school, Hillary had hung photos of every child as parting gifts, and all our children and staff showed their love and appreciation right up until her taxi’s arrival. Then in a fitting gesture, all the Chelsea teachers caravanned to the airport and ushered her to the door where security forced their final farewell. Hillary has accepted a position on the NOH Board of Directors, so her ideas shall continue specifically benefiting the CECC as well as NOH as a whole..

Carola Drosdeck Visits Dhapasi

Carola Drosdeck, Vice President of NOH, left Dhapasi after a six week stay. Carola is adored by all and accomplished many things in every department while here. In a goodbye ceremony held at the Chelsea Center and drawing a standing room only crowd, Prashanna, our new Director of the Chelsea Center, gave tribute to her energy, inspiration, and laughter brought to all, and the dozens of adopted administrative changes she suggested.

Papa's Visit to the Baby Orphanage

On Saturday, May 5, Sam and I visited the baby orphanage where NOH provides all the food, many of the supplies, and incentive pay for the staff to provide the best care possible to the babies. Presently they number around 24, more may have come since. The babies range in age from a few days to around two years, when they move to the toddler building.

My very favorite baby is 8-month-old Sarika. She is host to a number of medical issues. She is very tiny, rarely makes a sound, but never fails to offer an old soul smile and look searchingly into the eyes of anyone holding her. I always feel as if I have received the blessing of a Saint when I hold her. And maybe I have.

Happy Birthday, Hope Angel!

Hope Angel celebrated her 5th birthday on April 30th. She brings so much joy to everyone’s life. Hope, like many of our children, possesses unique and beautiful qualities that all thoughtful people recognize and yearn for. These are natural in them, uncultivated, and offer good reason for those introspective among us to continue our contemplation of the soul’s evolution. Meanwhile, I simply thank what ever brought her to me, out of the swirling winds and tides of cosmic events.

Help Expand Our Support

NOH continually helps those in need. However, it is never a question of simply providing money; along with that comes our understanding and involvement in the situation, to work with the person or people and move towards the solution as a team. I wish to share two new situations, one instigated by us, and the other in response to a request for help.

The first is a truly remarkable situation, an illustration of the immense power of love. It is a very rare example of goodness and determination, one which continues to unfold and thus limits my telling until I further plumb its depths.

This takes place in a small home in a remote mountain village, where school is an arduous two-hour walk, where jungles teem with predators, and where poverty never eases. Here, a father exudes virtues that humble the best among us.

The father is a math teacher. He has five daughters and a wife who has, for as long as the lives of the two youngest of the daughters know, suffered from depression, severe sleep apnea, as well as thyroid and blood pressure problems. Medicine, instead of a book or photo, covers her bedside table.

The father has raised his daughters, cared for his wife, and been a consistently compassionate and inspiring teacher, on a dismal salary for the past 24 years. He teaches in the government school, tutors after school for a little extra income, and spends his evenings gently urging his five daughters to read well-chosen books, to exercise their minds, to dream, and to make sure they never have to marry young, like most of the village girls do. Their house is a sanctuary, a gentle place imbued with scholarly thoughts. The girls have been made to believe that they will enjoy great success one day, to believe in themselves, and to see the future as rewarding as their imaginations allow.

They sustain themselves as much on knowledge as they do on food. There is little ever to eat; they save meager amounts of money only to have a new medical emergency, or to have the earthquake of 2015 destroy their tiny house. And each time, the father’s determination and positive attitude brushes them all off, helps them to stand tall, and keep going.

I have spent time with the five girls; any words I might search for to describe them would be insufficient. Alina (13), Yamuna (17), Namuna (18), Kriti (21), and Shruti (23), are rare gems.


Kriti, Namuna, Yamuna, Alina, and Shruti

Presently they live together in Kathmandu in a single room. They must depend upon themselves. Shruti has managed to get her bachelor’s in electrical engineering, she would like to study for her Master’s, however the system they use to help each other doesn’t allow for that right now. The older girls work to allow the others to attend school. Alina attends all the time, but once she is ready for college then she too will be part of the rotation. Eventually, they all will have completed their degrees. Meanwhile, they also help attend to the expensive care of their mother, and each of the girls has had, at one time or another, a medical issue of their own, some resulting in surgeries to pay for and recover from. The spirit and humor of these five girls, the love they feel for each other, for their parents, and for life itself, is intoxicating.

We have a plan to help them. A physician gave a dire prognosis to their mother. For years, her severe sleep apnea has been contributing to her overall decline in health. A prescribed machine to help her breathe and sleep at night costs the equivalent of their father’s total salary for five months. We bought the machine, and the mother now sleeps through the night and has energy during the day. Her disposition has remarkably improved.

Next, we will have her examined by both a good internist and a psychiatrist at an excellent hospital with internationally trained staff. Then, after helping the mother be in the best health possible and allieviating the daughters and their father of this anxiety, we would like to find a way to simultaneously support the education of the girls.

Each of them possess a sharp, creative, inquisitive mind that will likely contribute to their chosen careers one day. Shruti has taken a teaching position at her college, where she teaches electrical systems design, but unfortunately, the job does not pay much. Kriti also works full time now, and Namuna works part time as she is still in school.

I will try to go to their village with them sometime soon to meet their father and mother. Their father is the antithesis of how most men here conduct themselves. His belief in his daughters, his love and loyalty to his wife, as well as his daughters' remarkable minds and spirits is a story that must be told. I am convinced that we can eliminate many of the burdens weighing upon this family, weight that would have broken most people. They have never asked for help, we were informed about them and took the initiative to learn more. 
 

*******

The second situation involves a 12-year-old boy names Ustav. Last year, when flying a kite, Ustav was electrocuted. He lost his right arm above the elbow as well as nine toes. He spent 90 days in the hospital. NOH helped with his medical expenses. His parents are poor sustenance farmers who live in a village, Ustav lives near Dhapasi with his aunt. We help him to attend Skylark School.

I have observed Ustav’s demeanor for quite a while. He is always smiling. He is gentle and kind, quiet, but well liked. He loves art and has been learning to do everything with his left hand. I asked if he would like a prosthetic arm and he was speechless, searching my eyes and smiling, not sure what to say. I then researched the Jaipur Clinic in India which has garnered worldwide attention for the work they do. I wrote about Ustav and received a pleasant letter back, one full of compassion, from the “Founder and Chief Patron” a Mr. D.R.Mehta. He advised that work in affiliation with Stanford, and other Universities' Bio-Engineering departments, is in development of a functional arm for above elbow amputees, but it is perhaps a year away from being ready for recipients.

However, he said they would be able to outfit Ustav with a very real looking, nonfunctional arm and I conveyed this to Ustav. He had his heart set on being able to hold a pencil and better help himself, but his smile never diminished, and he said he would love to have this. So we are eagerly waiting for word back from the Jaipur Clinic with an appointment date.


Ustav at Skylark, taken on May 15th

 

*******

If anyone wishes to donate to either of these causes, please click here and indicate which cause in the comment section of the PayPal form. Or if you are donating by check, please write in the memo space.

NOH uses a long ago established fund, first created by donations for Hope Angel, to support many of our outreach projects. Any surplus money from any specific cause goes to “Hope’s Fund" on which our outreach programs' daily operation depends.

There will be updates on both of these initiatives on a regular basis. Please have a look at the second issue of the children’s magazine below for some delightful and informative reading.

Thank you very much! 

All my best,
Michael Hess (Papa)

Papa's House Magazine Issue #2 Is Out!

Twenty-threechildren and young adults at Papa's House contributed to our second issue of the Papa's House Magazine, which features stories they pitched, researched, edited, and wrote themselves. Many of them interviewed staff members, volunteers and others working at various placement organizations. They also took photos to accompany their articles. We hope you enjoy their labor of love!

Please click here or on the image below to start reading.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on this new format. Please share your feedback on our Facebook page here. 

Introducing the Papa's House News Magazine

Dear All,

Earlier this month I discussed with a number of our children the idea of creating an online and printed News Magazine. This met with enthusiasm and I now submit to you the children’s efforts. They are the reporters, and journalists. I have been very light in my editing in order to preserve their individual voices. The layout is random with photos added from my stock in most cases and with help from Sam with the great basketball ones. This issue and future issues will be posted on the Magazine page of our site.

We hope that The Papa’s House News Magazine will do a better job of informing our supporters and perhaps having them better get to know the individuals they have cared for. 

I, personally, am so impressed by the children’s efforts, and very excited to get the second edition started. Based upon the children’s illustrated commitment, and ideas, we will greatly broaden their reporting and journalism. Already we have a number of interviews lined up that are sure to please.

I have ended this magazine with one story in my continued series of our children. Each of our children has a unique story to tell about their lives prior to coming to NOH. In today’s edition I present “Mary’s Story.”

Thank you and enjoy.

Papa

Click the cover to read the magazine

 

January 2018

I seem to smile a lot, to myself or in response to someone calling my name. These are rather benign smiles quietly reflecting my happiness. But lately I have made a conscious effort to smile and meet the eyes of those passing by, and not a single one failed to quickly smile in return, smiles that light up the eyes, and make their step a bit jauntier. What I have gathered is that a smile is a sure way in which we can all change our environment, our inner peace and that of those we share them with. Smiles rest the soul and stimulate the body’s healing process.

Life becomes increasingly complex, but it needn’t be; so many answers are simple, but lay under mounds of clutter. I have read, “Change your thinking and you have changed your world.”  I might suggest smiling changes both yours and the recipient’s world as well.

Friday, December 22nd

With the children in school and the help of Urmila, one of our college girls, I put up a tree on the grounds where we would celebrate Christmas. Finishing touches were completed with Hope’s help after lunch; the tree was beautiful, and imaginations stirred. When the children of Harmony House walked through the gate after school they knew Christmas was near.


Hope heavily decorating the lower third of the tree


Then when her mom came it was time to share her interpretation of how Santa might act.

     
Before heading off to the Chelsea Center for her afternoon studies, Sarita sat for a photo

Saturday, December 23rd

A few weeks back our dear friends Rupa and Santosh asked if they could have a little party for our kids after lunch on the 23rd of December. Rupa and Santosh are highly educated motivational speakers, counselors, educators, and much more.  They live their lives in service to others, having spent many years living in Kolkata rescuing Nepali girls from Indian brothels. They have been sharing their experiences, thoughts, and love with our children in 90-minute sessions after lunch every Saturday for several years now.

Along with their own children, they brought several older children and young adults remarkable in their talents and personal stories. They had asked me for a list of our children and their ages and said they wished to buy a small gift for each for Christmas, and chose very warm bedroom slippers for them all.


The guitarist played

Our kids swooned

A spirited medley of Christmas tunes

Santosh and Rupa

Rupa handing out the individually named gifts

Gita, Priya, and Sarita danced

Sunita and Kamali sang

Sita, one of several giving impromptu speeches

In addition to some accomplished musicians coming, our younger children performed a traditional dance, our older children sang, and several of our children were inspired to speak from the heart about anything they felt, all sweet sounds to the ears of our NOH family.

The afternoon embraced great entertainment and feelings of love, happiness, and belonging.

Sunday, December 24th

A regular school day here in Nepal, but the kids full of giddiness. After getting the kids to school Anita Mahato, Anita Chaudhary and Kamali Chaudhary, our incredible house managers met at the Papa’s House grounds to put sand and candles into hundreds of cups to light the grounds, and other candles placed through slits in two hundred more cups for the children to hold. They had spent much of December buying the stocking gifts and at my house wrapping and filling stockings. Hillary Bernhardt (our Chelsea Education and Community Center director) and some of our college boys were busy setting up speakers, projectors and a computer filled with Christmas music, and a Christmas film for the night’s celebration, while in the kitchen a few of our children in the Culinary Arts Academy were making hundreds of handmade chocolates for their brothers and sisters.

The kids returned home from school at 3:30, and their dinner was served at 4:30. At 5:30 everyone began to arrive and helped light the perimeter candles and then their own.

Pictures were taken by the tree in the waning moments of the setting sun.


Ranjana’s first Christmas with us

Darkness was complete by 5:45. And candles lit the way.


Asha and her sister Gita

Darkness slowly falling, anticipation rising

A cauldron of hot chocolate was brought outside and served over mini marshmallows as the children mixed, Christmas Carols played over the speakers, and photos were taken in front of the tree, when suddenly, high above it all, standing precariously on a small gable roof came a booming HOHOHO! All eyes went up to see a huge figure four stories above, stars twinkling behind him; silence fell across the ground when straining eyes made certain of what they saw: it was indeed Santa Claus! At once sounds of astonishment and glee filled the grounds, small children backed wide-eyed into the comfort of their big brothers and sisters; I was holding Hope who seemed startled and uncertain by the presence of this massive Santa that appeared out of the night sky … this mythical being, could it really be him?

Santa then stepped back into total darkness, but reappeared among us all, a large red bag slung over one shoulder, and walked among the children to the chair we had set out for his rest after his expected arrival in the wee hours. He sat with a jolly chuckle and with both his white gloved hands beckoned the children near. The younger ones timidly approached, maintaining a couple of yards separation. “This is my favorite night of the year, a busy one, but I wanted to take the time to see my favorite children. Come please and sit with Santa for a moment.” The kids looked at one another, so silent everyone had become, then the bravest of them all, Kajul walked breathlessly up to the little table next to Santa. After giving her name and answering that she had tried to be good this year, she was handed a large chocolate bar from his bag, the sight of which vanquished the children’s reservation and they lined up to meet Santa, ending with Anita at the generous urging of us all.


Kajul leading the way to everyone having their own moment with Santa

We wish to thank the Consular section of the US Embassy for their kindness in helping to find Santa, who in the other 364 days of the year is Marine Corporal Robert Fitzgerald III, a really big guy, with a beautiful deep voice, and twinkling eyes. I was amused to learn that word spread quickly in early December by villagers who saw me wrestling the steering of my scooter with Robert on the back, his knees rising high from his seat, on our way to survey Papa’s House.

Robert concludes his e-mails with a Mark Twain quote which informed my first impression of him.

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”  – Mark Twain

This reminded me of my Thanksgiving request of the children to silently contemplate “why they exist.”

Robert has joined the family and proudly wears our new Papa’s House sweatshirt.

Thank you, Robert!

After Santa waved goodbye we sat down on the grass to watch a Christmas movie projected onto the side of the house. We snuggled close against the cold night air. Anita Chaudhary had made popcorn for everyone which she then distributed in large plastic bags while Ramesh and friends handed out their home-made chocolates, in the figures of ducks, penguins, or squares all cast in rubber molds that we had brought back from Boston. They were delicious. The film touching and funny, we did not feel the cold being together on this Christmas Eve.

Monday, December 25th

At 4:30 in the morning I met three of our older girls and we transported all the Christmas gifts to Papa’s house from my house and stacked them under the tree. We finished in an hour and while it was still dark and no curtain had been seen parting, we picked up the hundreds of plastic cups with sand and burnt candles, and made the walls and grounds evidence free of our Christmas Eve.

The House managers had taken all the stockings to their homes and hid them well on Sunday, to place them for awakening children to find.

We agreed to arrive at Papa’s House at 6:30 which seemed an agonizingly long time for me to wait. I returned early, standing on the grounds, and imagined the children’s arrival at the gate, or peering down from their windows, and I thought of the previous 12 or 13 Christmas mornings, and the people who have come and gone in our lives, and my own answer to “why do I exist” and feeling a fortunate kinship with Mark Twain’s quote, and many blessings from the Universe.

And then they came to the gate, excited eyes taking in the Christmas tree sitting deep in gifts.

Anita brought her house first, led by Hope, the children carrying gifts they had made for their Secret Santa names.

Every child received the same gift, a hooded sweatshirt, in an array of colors, very well made, thick and warm with “Papa’s House” written on the front and “Try Kindness” across the back. They each had a Christmas card attached with 1000rs ($10) inside and a letter I had written to them.

We began with the Secret Santa exchange, forming a large circle and calling out a name, that child would go to the middle and call for their Secret Santa to come and receive their gift. The circle always remains intact until the very last name is called.


Sanjeep, thinking after every name called his will be next


These smiles never fade

And then it was time to open their gifts, and read their letter.


Names were called to receive their gift

Muskan wishing to read her letter first


Asha, Kusboo, and Alecia as well


And their new sweatshirts, we live the motto

Then it was time to eat. Our Christmas dinner had been prepared by the college students in the Culinary Arts training program. It was a spectacular exhibition of what they have learned in two months’ time. Our further investment in them is paying big dividends.




                  Sandesh, Ramesh, and Ram Saran, three of the Culinary Arts Students 

Sunday, December 31st

Asha has been helping me cook dinners for the last year when I have the different groups of kids come over. She has also been the main cook at the Brother’s Café since it began. Like the others, Asha is a student in Hotel Management at Herald. She asked me before Christmas if she could attend the Culinary Arts Academy in baking. This is an intensive six-month course. She began on New Year’s Eve. All the students attending the Academy are offered well-paying jobs in top restaurants and hotels in Kathmandu, or in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Malaysia. We were told that in the next two-year period 40,000 beds will be added in Nepal by International Hotels; seems a great time for our children who have the interest to be in this course.

*****

Watching Our Children Grow

The first time that your daughter stops you on the way to her classroom, and tells you, “I want to walk alone from here,” you are not expecting this; you search her slightly serious face, a new face for her that she has put on to show you that she is “a big girl now,” she has been thinking about this for a while you can tell, and that too is a surprise. So you say ok, smile, kiss her goodbye, and watch her walk away, while your eyes well, and your heart calls out, “Turn around and see me waving goodbye to you, my precious, wonderful, young daughter.” The courage she has mustered, so little, so young, to walk away. She is walking into her space now, a place she now wishes to call her own, where rest assured, you will get an invitation, when the time is right, from her to share with you her new world.

Monday, January 1st, 2018

The New Year begins. The photo above is of Mrs. Sunita Pandey, our new Director of Nepal Orphans Home. Sunita has been with us for about seven years. She has served in several capacities — in the beginning she taught a group of children we had just taken in, they had attended little or no school, and spoke primarily their mother tongue. It was her job to teach them Nepali, then English, and through these languages all other courses taught at Skylark School to prepare them for entrance the following year. This was a formidable job, but for Sunita, educated in India and a teacher by profession, a job she embraced with passion and creativity. Some of her children from that year are our best students today. Sunita has since served as Director of Volunteer Nepal, and Director of our Outreach Programs. Whenever she leaves one post for another she does so by title only, she continues to watch over the position she has left to be sure the new Directors are properly trained, and all is going well.

So with Sanjeev Dahal’s anticipated return to America for his PhD in Social Work, we felt Sunita Pandey was the only person we could ever wish to take over. In the past year she has managed most of the operations for NOH and is more than ready.

Sunita is a wife and mother of two, very hard working, dedicated, and loyal. She knows our children very well, and everyone in the community. She has compassion as well as a savvy instinct for people not being completely straight with her. She is calm, easy going, forgiving, and has a great sense of humor. NOH is very lucky to have Sunita at the helm, and I have every reason to believe she will outlast my 13 years as Director. 

On January 1st, 2017 I was supposed to retire, but that did not quite work out. However, this January 1st I am retired. I have faith in Mrs. Pandey and our excellent staff to carry on. While I remain in Nepal, it will be as Papa only to the children. There are most assuredly regrets for programs I was unable to accomplish, especially in educating the remote areas through a teacher training program, and closer to home, to take over and completely manage the care of abandoned babies that are presently at another facility and improperly cared for. This program was set back a year and has only now just begun, but it will evolve under Mrs. Pandey’s capable guidance.

In my dedication to my NOH children I will attempt to write the stories of each, for they all have remarkable stories to tell. These children have taught me the most important lessons that a long and inquisitive life could hope to learn. I have been blessed.

Nepal Orphans Home is many things to many people, but it is one thing to all people, a lifeline extended by a warm smile, a friend in need, without politics, without judgment, simply compassion.

Thanks given to our widespread donor base consisting of good people working for a living and giving what they can afford, and sometimes really cant afford, we manage to be the person an abandoned baby sees and feels holding her, feeding her, smiling down at her; the family with a medical calamity without cash in a country without insurance and on a pay for cure basis; the remote village that drought has claimed the last of their food and has a runner enter their village and say that there is a truck load of rice and other staples waiting for them where the road ends and to come and get it.

NOH is the provider of an education for 260 women in our own village, free of cost, paid handsomely in return by their smiles, confidence, laughter, and the overall wellbeing of our village.

NOH is the buyer of chemo and pain meds for terminally ill children whose families cannot afford it, but more importantly we are the smiling presence in the ward granting last wishes and creating a celebratory environment for one birthday or another.

NOH is the daily hot and nutritious lunch given to children in an untouchables village if they attend the school that we built taught by teachers whose salaries we help support.

NOH was the first face that many of our remote friends saw coming to their rescue days after the earthquake.

NOH is the loving embrace and good cheer welcoming children to our family where we refresh daily for them our support of their dreams, this given to so many children who for numerous reasons have found themselves without anyone.

NOH is the organization who provided shelter to hundreds of Kamlari (indentured servants) once rescued, and then brought those who wished to come to our Kathmandu homes to pursue their regained childhood in a loving and secure environment, to be a part of a family where every member supports the goals of each other and together we achieve them.

NOH is this and so much more administered by a Board of professionals dedicated to helping those in need with their expertise, compassion and often their bank account.

It will not be easy to lay down my tools and walk away from this.

And finally, in finishing this update I will share my Christmas letter to the children.

TO ALL MY CHILDREN THIS 2017 CHRISTMAS, AND AS WELL TO OUR STAFF

TO SAY THAT YOU HAVE GIVEN ME THE JOY IN MY LIFE IS NOT ENOUGH. TO SAY THAT YOU ARE THE PURPOSE IN MY LIFE FALLS SHORT OF THE TRUTH. TO SAY THAT I THINK ABOUT EACH ONE OF YOU OFTEN, AND WONDER IF I HAVE REACHED YOUR HEART AND MIND, IF I HAVE REALLY MADE A DIFFERENCE, DOES NOT BEGIN TO STATE THE FACTS.  TO SAY THAT PREPARING YOU FOR A LIFE IN WHICH YOU WILL GO CONFIDENTLY AND ABLY, AND HAVE LEARNED HOW TO FIND PLEASURE, AND TO NOT SUFFER FEAR OR UNCERTAINTY, HAS BEEN MY GREATEST CHALLENGE AND WORRY BETRAYS MY DESIRE TO LET YOU KNOW HOW COMPLETELY ENTWINED YOUR BEING IS IN MINE. PLEASE, WITH THESE WORDS, REMEMBER ME.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

PAPA

My very deep gratitude to all those who have supported my time, my dreams, my purpose, to help others in their time of need, and please rest assured NOH continues the course.

My very best to you all,

Michael Hess